Gonzalez, representing the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, has been trying to force the fireworks show to be moved from the cove. He believes the aerial explosions harm nearby harbor seals and contaminate some of the most biologically diverse waters in California.

A lawsuit he filed last week said San Diego city officials failed to take necessary steps in the permitting process for the show under the California Environmental Quality Act.

It also named two nonprofit groups, Promote La Jolla and the La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation, over alleged failures to obtain “legally required state environmental law approvals for their annual event.”

Leaders of the fireworks foundation said they were ready for the legal move, which had been signaled for weeks, and had lined up pro bono attorneys to support their cause.

The Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation “has elected to manufacture an emergency where none exists,” Robert Howard, a lawyer for the fireworks foundation, said in a court response to Gonzalez. The California Environmental Quality ”has never been held to apply to Independence Day fireworks.”

City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, whose district includes La Jolla, also got involved. She told Quinn in court papers that many consituents had contacted her in support of the show and that canceling it would harm the area’s economy and civic pride.

Gonzalez has been working for years to limit the amount of toxic compounds that enter the county’s coastal waters from pyrotechnic shows. In 2006, he helped force a suspension of fireworks displays at SeaWorld, which eventually became the first institution in the country to receive a pollution permit for shooting fireworks over water.

The Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation was established in 2008 to “aggressively advocate” for coastal resources and residents, particularly using litigation.

Regional water-quality regulators in San Diego are developing a general permit that would cover fireworks shot if certain environmental protections are in place. It should be ready by early 2011, offering pyrotechnics enthusiasts hope that legal fights won’t disrupt Fourth of July celebrations next year.

In the meantime, Gonzalez has reached a settlement with producers of the Big Bay Boom fireworks show on San Diego Bay that allows it to go ahead next week as planned. The agreement includes provisions for cleanup and water monitoring after the event.